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World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: December 04, 2014 11:58 IST

Islamic State 'Jihadi John' holds British hostage Alan Henning before his execution. (Agence France-Presse)

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Sao Paulo: Brazilian police said on Wednesday they had arrested a suspected serial killer who attacked victims with an axe before decapitating them, allegedly taking his inspiration from watching gruesome Islamic State videos.

"We already have a tally of seven victims, six of them fatalities. The first murder took place on Saturday. We are going to investigate whether there may be further victims," said Police Commissioner Marcos Batalha from Mogi das Cruzes in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo.

The 23-year-old suspect, bearing an axe tattoo on his left arm, was arrested at his home after police discovered three headless bodies on early Wednesday.

News portal G1 quoted Batalha as saying the subject intended to kill 36 people and that "the idea came to him while watching videos of (IS group) decapitations."

Batalha added the man had acknowledged the killings and said he would have continued his killing spree had he not been arrested.

"He thinks all his victims are people living on the streets who don't pay taxes but live off other people, and he doesn't agree with that," Batalha said.

Police collared the suspect after a witness stumbled on him just after he had beheaded one victim and took down his license plate number.

IS militants, who seized large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq earlier this year, have released several grisly videotapes of the executions by beheading of several of its hostages.